Melanie Rubin

SAN DIEGO– Our license plate maven, Melanie Rubin, spotted this one.  Pronounced “Cassia,” it’s a woman’s first name, but it also is Hebrew for a cassia tree, which produces an oil that the ancient Israelites used for anointing.  (See Exodus 30:24)

SAN DIEGO– Melanie Rubin, our license plate maven, caught this plate, which appears to be an abbreviation for the Hebrew word hemshech, which means “continuation.”  Given that this plate also indicates that the car’s owner is a military veteran, we may conclude that he or she is continuing to provide service to the country.

  SAN DIEGO — Ah, the joys of transliteration.  Earlier we published a photo of a license plate saying “Mindele” — an endearing term for someone named Mindy.  Now, Melanie Rubin, our license plate maven, has received from a friend named Mindy another license-plate version of that affectionate, Yiddish-inflected, first name.

SAN DIEGO–In Yiddish, an ending with ‘le” means “little,” so Melanie Rubin snapped this photo, on the theory that it refers to “little Mindy.”  This doesn’t always refer to size, but also is used as a term of friendship or endearment.  Isn’t that right, Melaniele?

SAN DIEGO–For some, the phrase in God’s hands might recall an old movie title, or a song, or perhaps a line of street wear.  But when license plate maven Melanie Rubin sent this into San Diego Jewish World, it brought to mind a poignant moment from the play Fiddler on the Roof. “Papa, God alone knows when we

SAN DIEGO–If you want to know why this license plate caught the eye of our license plate maven, Melanie Rubin, you have to think with a Yiddish accent.   This car is a ‘kvick one.’  In other words, as Rubin interpreted it, that auto goes fast!  

SAN DIEGO — Melanie Rubin has spotted another Jewish interest license plate — this one an abbreviation for the Yiddish phrase Zei Geseundt, which means go in health.  May it be so for all of us.

Also transliterated from the Hebrew as Beth Shean, this is the biblical city where King Saul and his sons met their demise in a battle with the Philistines.  Their bodies were displayed on the walls of the city, according to I Samuel 31:10, 12.  Our license plate maven, Melanie Rubin, gets the credit for spotting

SAN DIEGO– License plate maven Melanie Rubin spotted this license plate on the car of a popular rabbi, and thanks to the frame, we all know what kind of party present to bring, should the occasion ever arise.

SAN DIEGO–Now here is a license plate rife with possible interpretations.  Eran is a Hebrew name, which comes from the word meaning “awake.”   So one possible interpretation of this license plate spotted by our maven, Melanie Rubin, is that someone named Eran “ate” — and we’re glad he did because we wouldn’t want him

SAN DIEGO– With Purim coming up March 4-5, our license plate Melanie Rubin couldn’t help but notice this plate, which reminded her of Vashti in the Book of Esther, who some credit as being among the first women’s liberation advocates for refusing to dance in front of King Ahashuerus and his guests.

SAN DIEGO–Melanie Rubin, our license plate maven and spotter-in-chief, describes this one, appropriately, as “the mother of all license plates.”